Epson MegaPlex MG-50 LCD Home Entertainment Projector Review

March 6, 2012 - Art Feierman

Epson MG-50 Projector - Brightness

In this section we will discuss the Epson MegaPlex MG-50’s performance capabilities in terms of brightness. The MG-50 claims 2200 lumens. In Dynamic Mode, the projectors brightest mode, the projector produced 1892 lumens of white output brightness. In the projectors Auto Mode, which is its default brightness, the projector nearly dropped to half at 1041 lumens. These drops in brightness from the original manufacturers specifications is not uncommon. There are few projectors that perform up to the specs advertised.

Moving on to Living Room Mode the Epson MG-50 performed a little brighter than Auto Mode at 1379 lumens. Cinema mode dropped brightness down to 1014. This usually occurs as the projector designer is trying to give you blacker blacks. You will find that in this mode you really do want to have the lights turned down quite a bit.

Gaming Mode is somewhat of a separate topic altogether. Projectors notoriously do not well when it comes to using it with an Xbox or Playstation. You usually need a projector with high brightness and very high contrast ratio. This is especially true with Business projectors. Generally, to get a descent gaming experience on a projector you need to be in Dynamic mode. The gaming mode on MG-50 only produced 1446 lumens, so a little short of what I have determined to be adequate for gaming. However, you can just switch to Dynamic Mode and take advantage of the light boost. Just remember that Dynamic mode does reduce the life of the bulb since it is burning at its highest brightness. Rule of thumb on all projectors that use Mercury based lamps is try and run the projector with as little brightness as possible by adjusting the system settings. You will have a cooler running lamp and often a much longer lamp life.

Epson MG-50 Projector - Audible Noise

Any projector that requires cooling of a lamp is going to have some audible noise while running, however I did not notice the noise from Epson MegaPlex MG-50 to be an issue. It’s noise ratings are 29db in its low light setting and 35db in its brightest setting. Brightness obviously produces more heat so the fan must turn a little faster to keep the projector cool. When playing music through the two, 10 watt, sterei speakers you certainly do not hear any projector fan noise at all. Assuming you have it turned up to a level that would fill a 25×25 foot room. So for movies, music listening from your Mac portable device, or just having it silent while displaying a slideshow, the projectors fan noise should not be a distraction to your audience.